MANILA – Vice President Sara Duterte must face the impeachment trial. 

This is the stand of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) after Vice President Sara Duterte’s allies in the Senate revealed that they are working on a resolution seeking to dismiss the impeachment case even without trial. Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa publicly admitted to crafting the resolution.

The group called on the public to not allow the Senate to dismiss the impeachment case without due process, stressing that Duterte must face the impeachment trial to hold her accountable. Bayan is scheduled to hold a protest in front of the Senate on June 11, the last session of the 19th Congress, when the Articles of the Impeachment will be presented. 

It has been four months since the Articles of Impeachment was transmitted to the Senate in February. But the Senate has not acted upon its constitutional duty to proceed with the trial “forthwith.” 

Reacting to the reported drafting of the resolution to dismiss the case against Duterte, concerned members of the faculty of the University of the Philippines College of Law said in an open letter that a “premature dismissal will undermine the core democratic principle of checks and balances.”

“We are deeply concerned with moves to preemptively dismiss the impeachment case not because we necessarily believe in the charges: we do so because we wish to see the evidence, hear the Vice-President’s defense, and with our fellow Filipinos, judge for ourselves her fitness to continue in public service,” the concerned UP College of Law faculty members said in an open letter.   

They said that proceeding with the impeachment trial “will uphold the Senate’s constitutional mandate on public trust and accountability.”

The UP College of Law noted that despite the Constitutional mandate to forthwith proceed with the trial, the Senate did not do so when it returned from recess on June 2. Thus, for them, a dismissal “would be deemed by the Filipino people as effectively engineered by the Senate’s own delay and an abdication of its constitutional role in impeachment.”

They urged the Senate to let the truth unfold. They added that dismissing the trial without hearing a single witness “will mean its abandonment of its proud tradition as an august chamber and permanently alter our system of checks and balances.”

“It will also undermine the people’s trust in the Senate as an independent and impartial institution before which the highest officials of the land may demonstrate and prove their fealty to the principles of accountability, public service, and democracy,” they added. 

There is also an ongoing petition online urging the Senate to start the impeachment trial signed by individuals and groups under Taumbayan Ayaw sa Magnanakaw at Abusado Network Alliance (TAMA NA). 

The petition criticized Ferdinand Marcos Jr for opposing the impeachment proceedings and called him the main stumbling block to the trial. 

“It has become increasingly clear that President Marcos Jr himself continues to be the main stumbling block to the impeachment trial as he has consistently expressed his opposition to the proceedings and showed disinterest in addressing systemic corruption in government. His statement about his willingness to reconcile with the Dutertes also threatens efforts at achieving accountability,” the petition read. 

It added that it would be a great disservice to the nation if the impeachment trial will not proceed as mandated under the Constitution, despite the overwhelming evidence presented against the Vice President. “In a time when a massive disinformation campaign is underway to undermine the impeachment proceedings, the President has shown weakness and opposition to achieving accountability in the corruption-prone system of confidential funds.”

Signatories of the petition include actors Angel Aquino, Bart Guingona and Jaime Fabrigas of Free the Artist Movement, Mae Paner of KAWA Pilipinas Foundation, Inc., Georgina Encanto, former Dean of UP College of Mass Communication, journalist Vergel Santos, church leaders such as Most. Rev. Broderick Pabillo, DD,  Most Rev. Gerardo Alminaza, DD, and Mother Mary John Mananzan, OSB of Movement Against Tyranny. 

“The diverse representation underscores the people’s collective call for the Senate to fulfill its constitutional duty and conduct the impeachment proceedings without further delay and that any attempt to scuttle the trial will be met with strong opposition,” the network said. (DAA, RVO)